


sunshine on a cloudy day

by helsinkibaby



Category: The Flying Doctors
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Het Relationship, Community: 1-million-words, F/M, Fluff, Het, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-24
Updated: 2018-06-24
Packaged: 2019-05-27 23:52:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15036038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helsinkibaby/pseuds/helsinkibaby
Summary: Tom hates overnight call outs. But he loves coming home.





	sunshine on a cloudy day

**Author's Note:**

> For one million words June bingo, prompt “running to them” 
> 
> A sequel, of sorts, to my story “where there ain’t no rain or snow”

Even though he knew all along that they came with the territory, Tom never was a fan of overnight Flying Doctor call outs. They usually came about because of an emergency situation, literal matters of life and death, sometimes on a grand scale and that was not something that was ever pleasant. Even the ones that were scheduled, the two and three day clinic runs in the middle of the Outback had their issues. Bed quality could vary, you never knew who you’d end up sharing with (Geoff’s Night of the Snoring Shearer story had long since passed into infamy) and death by overfeeding was a real possibility. 

Since he’s been back in Cooper’s Crossing, a lot has changed. There’s a new pilot, a new doctor who became a new husband for Kate and his ex-lover has become a mother to the most adorable little girl to ever grace the planet. 

But what hasn’t changed is how he feels about overnight call outs. 

And how he feels about Chris. 

Luckily, they’ve discovered that she still feels the same about him too and though it hasn’t been easy, they’ve managed to pick up more or less where they left off. More being because the feelings are still there, less because there’s another person in the mix now and figuring out how the three of them slot into a family unit hasn’t been without its challenges. Tom loves Megan like she’s his own - actually considers her his own - but Chris always was an independent woman, and now she’s an independent woman who’s been rearing a child alone for almost a year before he joined their little family. She’s used to doing things for herself, sometimes doesn’t take kindly to him “swooping in and taking over” - those are her words, he says he’s only trying to help. 

It hasn’t been easy but he wouldn’t have it any other way. 

It’s just another reason why he hates overnight call outs. 

So when he arrives back in Cooper’s Crossing in the early afternoon and Geoff tells him he can head home, Tom almost kisses the man. 

He makes his way straight to Chris’s house, lets himself in carefully though he discerns straight away from the chatter floating from the living room that Megan is wide awake. He still doesn’t call out though, instead stepping quietly up to the door, standing there and just watching them for a moment. 

He will never get tired of doing that. 

Chris is sitting on the couch, Megan on her knee. A collection of books is on the couch beside them and one is open on Megan’s lap, held by Chris’s hand, as Megan rubs her hand on the textured page, pulling at the lion’s hair there. Tom had bought her that book on a recent stopover in Broken Hill and it’s one of her favourites. Chris’s head is bent low, almost touching Megan’s as she reads the story to her but she must have heard the door, or sense Tom’s presence because when she gets to the end of the page, she turns her head towards the door, meets his gaze and smiles. 

It reminds Tom, as if he needed it, why he hates being away from his girls. 

He pushes himself away from the doorframe, frowns when Chris shakes her head quickly. 

“Megan,” she says, talking to the little girl rather than him. “Look who’s here.” 

Megan looks up, follows her mother’s gaze towards the door and when she sees Tom, her eyes light up. The biggest grin Tom’s ever seen comes across her face, showing off her teeth through a stream of drooly bubbles and she windmills her arms and legs, a sure sign that she wants to be put down on the ground. 

Chris does it, but instead of putting her sitting on her bum, she lowers her so that she’s standing on her feet. Megan grips one of her hands tightly, the couch with the other and with a look of fierce concentration on her face that is hilarious to see on a fifteen month old baby, she takes one step still holding onto the couch. 

Then another. 

Then she lifts her hand from the couch. 

Tom’s eyes flicker quickly to Chris’s face, sees the smile there and he knows. Dropping down to his knees, he holds out his hands and Megan lets out a shriek of delight and then she’s off, toddling towards him in a combination of a walk and a run. She doesn’t stop until her arms are around his neck and she’s babbling into his ears and there’s a lump in his throat that he can’t swallow past as he stands with her. 

A lump that only gets bigger when Chris appears at his side. “That’s the first time she’s done that,” she tells him, tears in her eyes and the lump in his throat gets bigger. “I thought she was going to last night, but she just kept looking at the door... I think she was waiting for you.” 

Tom stretches his free arm around her shoulder, pulls her close and kisses the top of her head. Megan squawks at not being the centre of his attention and he grins as he kisses her too. “Is that true, my girl?” he asks. “You were waiting for Tom?” 

If he’d thought her look of concentration was hilarious, the frown that appears at that is doubly so. Her hands reach out, pat his cheeks none too gently but any minor sting is forgotten when she opens her mouth. 

“Dada,” she says, loud and strong and insistent and so like her mother than Tom would laugh if he wasn’t so shocked. “Dada,” she says again and when Tom looks over at Chris, he sees that the tears that were in her eyes are now spilling down her cheeks. 

“That’s right,” he says, kissing Megan again, tightening his grip on Chris. “Daddy’s home.”


End file.
